Social Deviance

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Sociologists Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber all studied from a macrolevel perspective.
Emile Durkheim uses the basis he believes is the basis of the social structure, collective consciousness. Collective Consciousness is the beliefs, values, and norms that members of a society hold in common. Durkheim believed that deviance was present in every society, and that it was an integral part of the social structure. According to Durkheim deviance helps societies maintain themselves by reconfirming the collective consciousness and the common basis of society. When society condemns one who does not conform to the norms of society it reinforces the cohesiveness and the norms of the group.
To prove his thoughts that a society can never be free of deviance because deviance will always be redefined according to the society, Durkheim uses the example of a “society of saints.” This is suppose to create the image of a completely deviance free society. He suggests that in this ...

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control, the way in which the powerful maintain their position of authority within a society. Defining deviance and influencing the sanctions for engaging in deviant behavior was one way that Marx believed that the powerful groups enforce control. Marx saw social control as “solidifying the advantages of the powerful.”
Using the same example that Durkheim used, we can use to support the Marxian perspective. If Socrates had been using his method of teaching on people who were powerful in both the economic and political areas, then Socrates may have been embraced as brilliant, rather than being executed. The Marxian perspective is centralized around the idea of social change. “Marx ...

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